STORIES FROM THE WEB

The Stat Line Of The Night — 4/27/11 — Dwayne Roloson

After trailing their best-of-seven opening round series 3-1, the Tampa Bay Lightning were able to force a Game 7 and were suddenly one win away from advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since they raised the Stanley Cup in 2004. Winning a do-or-die game on the road at the Consol Energy Center is no easy task, but the Lightning were up for it on this night, thanks in large part to their goaltender, Dwayne Roloson.

Heading into the series, the Pittsburgh Penguins were supposed to have the advantage between the pipes, but a completely different story would unfold throughout the next seven games. Despite being out-shot in every game of the series leading up to last night, Roloson was able to out-duel Marc-Andre Fleury in three of those games. He would make it four last night, as he stopped all 36 pucks that came his way, compared to Fleury’s 22 saves on 23 shots. That one goal allowed by the Penguins’ netminder would prove to be the difference, as the Lightning went on to take Game 7 by a score of 1-0.

The shots throughout the seven games in this series were incredibly lopsided, with the Penguins accumulating 257, while the Lightning could only manage 180. In fact, at the end of the final round, the Penguins would rank second of the 16 playoff teams with an average of 36.7 shots per game. As for the Lightning, they would rank last with 25.7 shots per game. However, those stats would be a moot point, as we all know that shots mean nothing if they can’t make it past the goal line. That was the case for every single one of the Penguins’ 36 shots last night. As a result, Roloson earns our “Stat Line of the Night” for Wednesday, April 27, 2011.